Lady Panthers get 20th win

LAMOILLE — The Lady Panthers visited LaMoille/Ohio Saturday afternoon, ending their 10-day break from action. Not missing a beat, Putnam County got on top of the Lady Lions early, winning handily 65-27.

Daniela Pavlovich was a big part of that effort scoring a game high 24 points despite only playing three quarters. Lamoille/Ohio’s Shiela Browning led her team with eight points.

With the win, the Lady Panthers reached the 20-win mark for the first time in 30 years.

"We got our 20th win today, which we have not had here since 1982 in the girls program. It’s a big accomplishment for the girls. We are very proud of them," PC coach James Barnett said.

The Lady Panthers hit many of their goals for the game, Barnett said.

“This is our first game in 10 days since conference tournaments, so I didn’t really know what to expect. We came out, and we executed a lot of stuff we’ve been working on for the last week, so that was good to see," he said. "We set goals for the girls for the game. One of them was to shoot 55 percent, and I think we were right around 50. The majority of the game we met that goal. Our shot chart was how we wanted ... all within 10 feet of the basket. We had threes we were getting out of it. I thought the girls played well in that respect."

Following the tough loss, Lady Lion’s coach Richard Gross said, “I don’t know if we get intimidated by some of the records around like that. I think it does. These girls read the papers, and they see that Putnam County has only been beaten four times.

"And Pavlovich, she’s tough. I’ve known her a long time. They are a very good ball team. We turned the ball over too many times. They played good in the second half. Why they didn’t in the first I don’t know. We have to play both halves. I’ve got girls out, but so do other teams. It’s tough. But they don’t quit. I hope I instill that in them,” he added.

From the start it was obvious there were going to be plenty of free throw attempts in this game. The referees were loose with the whistle, and the players didn’t seem too concerned about it. The teams combined for 41 free throws. The Lady Panthers capitalized at the charity stripe hitting 20 of their 27 attempts.

This kept things choppy for most of the game, but Putnam County took advantage and jumped out to a 21-point lead in the first quarter. In the second, the Lady Panthers offense slowed a bit as they tacked on another 14 points. By the end of the half, the Lady Lions were already in foul trouble and only managed to score six points in the first half.

In the third quarter, Lamoille/Ohio played better putting 10 points on the board as Putnam County kept pace with their second-period scoring at 13. At the end of three, the Lady Panthers had a 36-point lead. Though she was the game’s high scorer, Pavlovich sat during the fourth as both coaches put in players from the bench to finish out the game.